October 28

Gay Pro-Wrestler Chris Kanyon

Pro-wrestling superstar Chris Kanyon, whose real name was Christopher Klucsaritis (born January 4, 1970) made headlines when he publicly announced he was gay in 2004.
During his wrestling career, from 1997 to 2004, he fought for the World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation (renamed World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002) under the name "Kanyon." He planned on using his homosexuality as an element in a wrestling character. After 2004, Klucsaritis still wrestled on occasion, billing himself as an openly gay wrestler. Tragically, he was found dead in his Queens, N.Y. apartment after he committed suicide in April of last year.

He made his WCW debut as part of the construction worker tag team called "Men at Work" with Mark Starr. However, the partnership ended in 1997, and Kanyon began wrestling under the name "Mortis" and several other aliases. Kanyon dueled as a solo wrestler and as a part of teams before his contract was released in 2004. Kanyon alleged his career was ended by wrestling officials because he was gay.

"I last saw Chris at Wrestlemania in 2004. I may have seen him once since then. He looked good, but talked about packing it in, calling it a career. I never knew of his struggles – the bipolar disorder, the pressure of keeping his sexuality secret for so many years," pro-wrestler Mick Foley commented.